Posts Tagged With: flapjacks

Well, I think it’s about time to make my first blog post of 2017! A very belated Happy New Year to you all 🙂

In my last post I said I wanted to try and eat healthier and shift a bit of weight, and by some miracle I’ve actually stuck to it (thus far)! I’ve not been following any kind of radical diet, just cutting down on the amount of naughty stuff and exercising more. I’ve been going to the work gym twice a week, walking to and from the office every day and taking lunchtime yoga classes on Mondays, also at work (one of the great things about being employed by a university is the access to an array of convenient fitness facilities, and at a significant discount!)

I’ve managed to lose 6 pounds so far, which I’m really pleased about as I’m not trying to lose a shedload of weight in a short period, only to pile it all back on when the urge to eat a wheelbarrowful of Dairy Milk becomes too much. I want to do it gradually while still being able to enjoy my favourite treats in moderation. To be perfectly honest, I’ve not missed eating cake that much but chocolate is proving to be very much my Achilles’ heel…

The downside to this wee health kick is that I’ve not been doing as much baking, apart from a few cake requests for colleagues. However, my other half bought me the latest Bake Off book for my birthday last month and it contained a fabulous recipe for ‘Posh Granola Bars’, which I knew I had to try right away. Toasted oats, Rice Krispies, nuts, fruit and honey in yummy crunchy bar form and easy on the waistline to boot – what’s not to like?

They turned out delicious, but I decided to adapt them slightly in subsequent batches by increasing the quantity of Rice Krispies, substituting the butter for peanut butter and using raisins instead of dried cranberries. I like these ones even better, and they’re easier to cut without turning to crumbs, meaning they’re perfect to take to work for a healthy and filling mid-morning snack.

If you’re not as mad a fan of Rice Krispies as me, cut the amount down to 25-50g and up the oats to 200g, although personally I love the crunch they add! Also feel free to use whatever dried fruit you like, or maybe go wild and add some chocolate chips?

As I’m currently tucked up in bed with a rotten cold on New Year’s Eve, I thought I’d do another blog post like I did this time last year looking at my top bakes of 2016.

I won’t bore you with the details but this year has been the worst one for a long time for many reasons and has left me a bit emotionally battered to say the least. I’m hoping with all my strength that 2017 is an improvement and that the changes I’m desperate to make in my life will come about.

Still, baking is a part of my life come rain or shine and I’ve managed quite a few successful bakes this year, including several celebration cakes which I was really pleased with. My creations will never be up there in the showstopper stakes, but I think my presentation skills have improved and I’ve been a bit more daring with decoration.

One new thing I’ve tried this year is meringues. I’d always been a bit nervous to try them as I got the impression they’d be very temperamental and difficult to pull off, but happily I was wrong. My piping skills are still as dire as ever, but they were surprisingly easy to make and tasted absolutely delicious – crispy on the outside with a gooey marshmallow-like interior. And so SO much better than the brittle, chalky shop-bought ones. I was hoping to make a chocolate or cappuccino pavlova for NYE dessert and unfortunately being ill has put paid to that, but I’m keen to make something meringuey again soon! Like an idiot I forgot to include the fruits of my labour in the collage below so here’s a snap of my cute little ghost meringues from Halloween:

I’ve decided to make on culinary resolution this year, and I’m sure I’ve made it before. I would really like to have a go at making proper bread, i.e. using yeast (not soda bread!) I’m a very impatient cook which is what’s put me off trying this previously but the effort would be worth it in order to create a nice big tear-and-share centrepiece, either a delicious chocolatey monkey bread or a mouth-watering sundried tomato and cheese number. I also fancy having a go at brioche, which is my all-time favourite bread, with its indulgent melt-in-the-mouth buttery sweetness and cloud-like texture. Watch this space!

So anyway, here’s a wee compilation of my personal favourite bakes from 2016:

Hurray! The most wonderful time of the year is upon us again! 🙂 Christmas is my favourite time for baking, and each year I have to meticulously plan when I want to make what as I always have so many bakes I want to try – both old seasonal favourites and new recipes that I haven’t tried before.

This festive season I intend to make another batch of my yummy stollen biscotti from last year, the spiced fruitcake with fondant seal decorations that has become a Christmas tradition, and also have a go at creating my own lebkuchen. I’ve also recently been experimenting with different gingerbread recipes so no doubt there’ll be a repeat performance of some of those too before the year’s out.

After the success of the aforementioned stollen biscotti last year, I wanted to have a go at conjuring up another Christmas recipe of my own, and these deliciously spicy and fruity flapjacks are the result.

I made my flapjacks using my mum’s marvellous homemade mincemeat which is lovely and fruity and not too boozy, but use whatever kind you like, be it homemade or bought. Like their traditional pie counterpart, they’re delicious served warmed with some cream (preferably accompanied by Christmas songs and a festive jumper).

This would also be a good recipe for the new year when jars of mincemeat are being sold off ten-a-penny in the shops and you’re in need of something sweet and warming to distract you from the fact that Christmas is over, you’re cold, skint and have already broken all of your new year’s resolutions.

This may be my final blog post before the big day so I’ll take this opportunity to wish everyone in the Bakeosphere a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C (or 160 fan) and line a rectangular baking tray with parchment paper.

Put the butter/margarine, sugar and golden syrup in a heatproof bowl and melt together in the microwave in blasts of 1 minute until smooth, stirring at each interval. Alternatively, melt together in a pan on the hob over a low heat, stirring regularly.

Stir the oats, mincemeat, cinnamon, mixed spice and raisins/sultanas into the liquid mixture until thoroughly coated.

Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tray and place in the oven for around 15-20 minutes, or until firm and slightly golden at the sides

Leave the flapjacks to cool on a wire rack and then slice into squares with a sharp knife. Scoff in front of the fire or crappy Christmas TV.

Hurray, Autumn is upon us again! As corny as it sounds, is there anything more heart-warmingly lovely than taking a quiet pink-cheeked walk in the September/October sunshine amidst a crisp breeze while taking in all the gorgeously coloured leaves, fallen apples and shiny conkers underfoot? It’s at this time of year that I’m glad I can walk to work, and recently I haven’t been able to resist stopping to take photos on the way as my scenic route looks particularly stunning of an autumnal morning.

Most importantly, Autumn marks the arrival of one of my favourite things – scrumping season! My mum and I did our usual ritual of venturing out to the nearby fields on the first Saturday in September and came back with a glorious bounty of apples, blackberries and plums. The majority of the berries and some of the apples were used to make vast quantities of my beloved blackberry, apple & cinnamon jam, but it wouldn’t be right to not keep a few aside for some baking.

The scrumped apples have made a delicious addition to various recipes that I’ve tried, including Waitrose’s spiced apple & walnut blondies and my go-to Weetabix loaf. However, I think my favourite 2016 Autumn apple creation has to be these toffee apple flapjacks. They’re squidgy, sweet and sharp, and remind me of a cross between a flapjack and a crumble – perfect for a chilly evening. They’re also yummy served warm with custard.

For another wonderfully autumnal treat where apples are the star, why not check out my Autumn Bliss cake?

INGREDIENTS – makes 15 flapjacks

130g/4.5 oz butter or margarine

170g/6 oz brown sugar

3 tbsp maple syrup

255g/9 oz oats

2 eating apples, peeled, cored and chopped into chunks about the size of a 10p piece

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C (or 160 fan) and line a rectangular baking tray with parchment paper.

Put the butter/margarine, sugar and maple syrup in a heatproof bowl and melt together in the microwave in blasts of 1 minute until smooth, stirring at each interval. Alternatively, melt together in a pan on the hob over a low heat, stirring regularly.

Stir the oats, apple chunks, toffee/fudge pieces and cinnamon into the liquid mixture until thoroughly coated.

Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tray and place in the oven for around 15-20 minutes, or until slightly golden at the sides.

Leave the flapjacks to cool on a wire rack and then slice into squares with a sharp knife.

I’m officially obsessed with flapjacks. Up until a couple of months ago, I don’t think I’d ever actually made them, but after creating Caramac and honeycomb & chocolate ones, I now find myself whipping up a batch or two at least every couple of weeks!

I just love how they’re both so foolproof and so adaptable. Simply mix together butter, sugar, syrup and oats et voila – you’ve got the base for a million varieties and you can add pretty much whatever goodies you feel like. And all without the ever-present fears of over-mixing, soggy bottoms or sunken sponges.

As I love anything custard cream related, I decided that these yummy biccies would form the basis for my next flapjack experiment. The results were deliciously vanilla-y, moreish, and heartily demolished by my colleagues!

I’m a huge fan of The Great British Bake Off’s 2013 champion, Frances Quinn, who captured my heart with her incredible culinary creativity when she appeared on the show. She is an idol of mine as I love how she always thinks outside the box and is constantly coming up with quirky new twists on recipes.

There are lots of brilliant cooks out there, but I’ve never come across another with Frances’s talent of taking baking to the next level by slathering it with an extra layer of fun and Willy-Wonka-like wonder. A big jam sandwich recreated in Victoria sponge, biscuit matchsticks, squirrel cake and a giant Swiss roll cigarette were among her wonderfully imaginative creations on the show, proving that it is indeed possible to combine both style and substance. I’ve never seen another contestant come close to her in terms of visual presentation before or since, despite the hundreds of showstopping bakes produced over the years.

Needless to say, I was desperate to get my hands on a copy of her book, Quinntessential Baking, when it was released and it has become a firm favourite. Instead of churning out recipes for the same old ‘best ever chocolate cake’, blueberry muffins and yet another pavlova that hardly differ from the offerings of the dozens of other cookbooks that clamour for attention among the saturated culinary market, I adore the way in which she outlines a set of base recipes and then tells you how to transform them into something wonderfully ingenious with a few simple touches. Some delightful examples include a wall of Bourbon ‘brick’ brownies, white chocolate candles, meringue swans and bonfire cupcakes with spun sugar flames. And, as a fellow lexeme lover, her cute puns and wordplay make me feel all warm and fuzzy!

Anyway, despite my rambling ode to Ms Quinn’s fabulousness, this post doesn’t actually include one of her recipes. However, the creations I’m sharing here were very much inspired by her. Some the gorgeous adornments Frances suggests in her book are marzipan bees, which I’ve copied here and which inspired the idea of honeycomb flapjacks. I realise it’s hardly the most original concept in history, but I like to think of them as a little homage to the Queen of Creative Baking. And they taste absolutely bee-rilliant (sorry…)!

I’ve been a bit quiet on the blogging front lately as I’ve not been doing as much baking as usual, and the few bits I have done have been either from cookbooks or things I’ve made a million times before that I’ve already posted on here. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve also been trying to eat a bit more healthily and cut down on refined sugar but, admittedly, my desk drawer at work that’s groaning under the strain of the office biscuit/chocolate/jaffa cake stash is hindering my efforts somewhat…

Another reason in part for my lack of culinary activity is due to my recent rekindling of my passion for painting, something I hadn’t done in years until the other week. I’m so glad I’ve got back into it though as I’m enjoying it hugely, and I’m never happy if I’m not working on some kind of creative project.

Anyhow, back to the subject in hand – Caramac flapjacks! Or, as I have christened them, ‘Caramacjacks’. Weirdly enough, I’d never actually made flapjacks before but my friend at work had a birthday approaching and I decided to have a go at them as she’s not hugely keen on cake (I know, shocking!) and I wanted to make something that I could stick candles in. Like me, she’s a big chocolate fan, and there were two multipacks of the enticing sweet, golden ingots in question lingering in my pantry, so the result was a no-brainer.

P.S. If you’re crazy for Caramac, why not check out my cupcake recipe?

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C (or 160 gas) and line a square or rectangular baking tin with parchment paper.

Melt the butter/margarine, sugar and syrup together, either using a saucepan on the hob or by placing them in a heatproof bowl and heating in the microwave in 1-minute blasts.

Stir in the oats and chopped caramel/white chocolate buttons.

Scoop the mixture into the prepared baking tin and pop in the oven for around 20 minutes, or until lightly golden.

Transfer onto a wire rack and allow to cool before adding the topping.

For the topping:

Chop the Caramac bars into very small pieces and transfer into a heatproof bowl, then microwave on a LOW heat in 30-second blasts until completely melted (don’t be tempted to put it in for longer periods or turn the heat up or it will seize and turn disgusting!)

Stir the butter/margarine into the melted Caramac and pour onto the cooled flapjack. Spread the topping into an even layer using a palette knife. Don’t worry if the consistency of the mixture isn’t very smooth.

Chop the dark chocolate into small pieces and place in a new heatproof bowl, then microwave in blasts of 30 seconds to 1 minute until completely melted (dark chocolate tends to be more forgiving than the more synthetic Caramac).

The Caramac topping should have set by now but, if not, wait until it has. Then, using a teaspoon, drizzle the melted chocolate across the flapjack in a criss-cross pattern and allow to set.

Cut into 16 small bars with a sharp knife – or go mad and leave it as one giant flapjack!